Fashion Skirts 101

"Guidelines to Selecting the Best Skirt Style and Hemline Length"

Courtesy of Macy's

Fashion skirts definitely
add instant chicness to your style. Ranging from maxi skirts to minis, you're faced with a lot of choices. Some skirt styles look better on you than others, and vice versa. But of course, there are ways to style the skirt to make it look great on you, which I will talk more about further down this page.

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This page will focus on how to select the best skirt styles for your body shape as well as finding the best hemline length for your legs.

I believe that fit and hemline are the most crucial factors in choosing the right fashion skirts that look fabulous on you. The skirt style (shape and details of the skirt) on the other hand can easily be styled to work for your body figure.

Let's check out the guidelines to looking chic and gorgeous in womens skirts:

Fashion Skirts 101: The Right Fit

Make sure you know your accurate size.

Skirts (and garments in general) that are too tight or too large feels uncomfortable and can look unprofessional.

This means that if your skirt is too tight it will cling around your hips, butt and thighs. And if you carry extra weight around there, it can make you look curvier. But not in a good way - think bulky and stumpy!

On the other hand, if it's a bit large for your size - it will swallow up your hips, making your body look shapeless and your outfit sloppy. Or call it unsexy.

So before you start buying skirts, make a realistic assessment of your size. And compare the sizes with the store's chart.

How to do it:

Measure around your waist, at the point where your natural waistline is.
Make sure you keep the tape measure pulled firmly to get an accurate measurement.

Measure your hips (a great trick when buying fitted skirts) by standing with your feet together and
putting the tape around the fullest part of your hips. This should be about 8" below your natural waistline. In some instances, you may have to measure your upper hip as well.

Fashion Skirts 101: The Right Hemline

The right hemline is crucial in making your legs (and your whole body figure in general), look their best. This is also important when you want to look appropriate for the occasion.

Some fashion skirts look too much on short legs and on Petites.
So make sure you select the correct hemline to give your legs the best shape possible.

How to Find Your Hemline:

Stand in front of a full-length mirror while wearing the shoes you typically wear with a skirt.

Hold a piece of long fabric and
experiment with different lengths.

Starting with the hemline near the feet, progressively raise the fabric, observing which heights are
the most flattering to your legs.

If you're in doubt, take a look at this:

The most flattering skirt length no matter height or shape, curvy or slim, is right above or at your knees. This is also a very versatile length that is appropriate for most occasions.

Let's have a closer look at the 4 basic hemlines:

Mini's and Short Skirts Are Your Best Friends

Why? Because they show a lot of skin and legs, and it
visually elongates your whole body figure. The thing with most fashion skirts and dresses is that they hide half of your legs and visually "cut" them up.

As well as for showing off your hosiery and shoes.. and for simply feeling sexy!

But not the best for:

Women with a fully stomach (Apples or anyone who carries a lot of weight around the midriff-midsection area)

Anyone who wants to look professional and sophisticated

Women who don't like showing off their legs

If you feel uncomfortable in short skirts and find it tacky, but you want to gain the slimming benefits from them - stick to the right-above-the-knee-length or
add a pair of hosiery that blends with the skirt and a more covered top/sweater to make your outfit look less daring.

Knee-Length Skirts

Courtesy of Peacocks.co.uk

Around the knee-length hemlines are versatile and look good on all body shapes, and are appropriate for most occasions, especially office work.

However if you're short or have short/full legs, I recommend you to show more skin by raising it up to above the knee - which helps you look taller and leaner.

Also make sure it fits snugly around your hips and thighs to avoid a boxy look. Adding a pair of heels will also help!

Oh Midis

Courtesy of Dorothy Perkins

Midi skirts are a bit tricky - that's because they tend to fall right on the widest part of your calves.

The thing with mid-calf skirt styles is that
they draw attention to the thickest part of your legs, and the hemline cuts it up, making them look shorter and well, stumpy!

Of course there are exceptions, because it depends on the length and shape of your legs along with your overall height. And also in how you style it.

Midi skirts work better on:

Lean calves

Average to tall height

For petites, wearing a midi requires you to select a style that fits snugly around your hips and thighs, creating a sleek Mermaid silhouette. And you should work on that adding extra leg length with heels, especially in a color that blends with your skin tone or hosiery.

What About Long Skirts?

Courtesy of Romwe.com

It's about selecting the right style for your body figure and height.

Long skirts can swallow up Petites and thin-boned body figures, making you look
smaller and it can also make you look stumpy. The trick is to choose a maxi skirt that fits snugly around your hips and thighs to maintain a sleek line.

Taller women can pull off the long gypsy skirt better than petites because they can handle the extra fabric - it looks more streamlined on their height.

Guidelines to Wearing Long Skirts:

Make sure the length falls long enough to touch your ankle bones (the tiny rounded bone at the sides of your ankles) which are right below the thinnest part of your ankles, or at least long enough to fall right above the thinnest part of your ankles. Showing off the thinnest part of your ankles creates the illusion of slim legs.

I also suggest that you show off some skin on top with a low'ish V-neck tee to avoid the old-fashioned matronly look. Fitted and shorter tops look best with long skirts.

Balanced

If you're curvy (Pear or Hourglass) or short, or carry most of the weight around your hips and thighs (muffin top, anyone?), then I suggest working on elongating your legs because this can make you look taller and trimmer.

Courtesy of Jemal Countess/Getty

But no matter how you style your balanced vertical line, a pair of heels will always fix this problem! :-)